Dick Spotswood: New park ferry a good idea for bike-weary Sausalito

The National Park Service is planning to commence weekend ferry service from San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf to Fort Baker via Alcatraz. It’s a good idea.

This water transit option is meeting opposition from Sausalito’s City Council, fearful that new boats will enable even more rental bicycles to cram into the bayside community.

Recent experience has demonstrated Sausalito’s legitimate concerns over tourist-driven bikes overwhelming the town. Now, using a little imagination and moxie, the city should utilize federally supervised, privately operated ferries from Fort Baker to the city to relieve the congestion strangling the town.

As implausible as it may be to Sausalitans, most out-of-town cyclists intent on crossing the world-famous span didn’t come all the way to San Francisco to see Sausalito. They came to experience the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sausalito is a lovely place for ice cream, lunch or buying T-shirts, but many bike tourists arrive because Golden Gate’s ferry moves them and their cycles back to San Francisco’s lucrative bike rental shops.

Give tourists a short-cut and many will take it, especially if they can pass on the tortuous ride down Alexander Avenue to Sausalito’s crowded ferry landing.

A better option is to avoid Sausalito altogether and take the boat back directly from Fort Baker.

The key is placing signage where Alexander Avenue junctions with Bunker Road and goes down past Cavallo Point Lodge to Fort Baker. Erect a National Park-type sign directing cyclists to Fort Baker, its ferry dock and the world-class Bay Area Discovery Museum.

Match it with another notice, outlined in bright yellow, proclaiming, “Caution, Sausalito: Two miles. This winding steep downhill route is dangerous and advised only for experienced cyclists.”

Many cycling families will take the hint and instead coast down to beautiful and interesting Fort Baker. With this new waterborne traffic, Park Service ferries could profitably run out of Fort Baker’s landing every day during summer and holidays.

Of course it’s Sausalito’s residents who have endured the flood of bike-propelled tourists. Some but not all of the town’s merchants reap a bonanza from the rental bikes.

If the city’s proclaimed intent is truly to limit tourists’ cycles, a Fort Baker-Fisherman’s Wharf ferry is the no-cost, no-hassle method to efficiently do the job.

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Filing for Marin nonpartisan offices up for election on June 5 just opened. Candidates have until March 9 to submit qualifying signatures, filing fees and ballot statements.

If at least one incumbent doesn’t file for each office, that office remains open until March 14. The extra five days is to thwart an old stunt where a popular incumbent is presumed to be running for re-election, but at the last minute doesn’t file. That trick enabled the incumbent’s chosen successor to enter the race just as filing closes, effectively eliminating opposition.

Marin sees terms of county supervisors Damon Connolly and Judy Arnold ending this year. Both will seek re-election. Arnold faces a rematch against Novato’s Toni Shroyer, who came within 215 votes of an upset four years ago.

Four Marin municipalities have city council openings. The terms of the following incumbents are expiring: Corte Madera — Bob Ravasio, Carla Condon and Diane Furst; Mill Valley — John McCauley and Jessica Sloan; Ross — Elizabeth Robbins, Rupert Russell and Julie McMillan; Belvedere — Marty Winter and James Campbell.

Marin District Attorney Ed Berberian is retiring and at least three candidates will run for the coveted criminal prosecuter post. The terms of Sheriff Bob Doyle, county Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke and Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk Rich Benson are expiring.